Who Knew?
by ChildOfThePhoenix
Summary: He was just helping a lost kid find her family, how was he supposed to know she was the daughter of everyone's favorite potions master? Post OOTP!
1. Chapter 1

This is a revised version of the first chapter of Who Knew. When I went back to reread this beginning I was appalled at how terrible my grammar was. As of now the only thing I have changed is some of the wording and grammar but a few details might be reworked as i continue editing this story. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this.

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Summer after OOTP...

It was two weeks into the summer and a certain raven headed teen found himself wandering around a muggle mall. His startling green eyes and shabby appearance kept most of the muggles from studying him to closely, which for Harry was probably just as well.

Earlier that week he had decided it was time he helped himself rather than wasting his time waiting for help that would never come, and his new found independence started with a new wardrobe. So Harry had owled Gringotts in order to exchange some of his wizard currency for muggle money and that's where we find him now, clothes shopping.

He walked, glancing in awe at all the stores and people. Sure he had been in a mall once or twice before, but not since he was younger. Plus, when you actually have money, you tend to look at everything in a new light.

With a bit of apprehension he made his way into one of the higher end clothing stores only to turn around abruptly at the sight of the scowling manager. His street urchin appearance screamed trouble and his wild black hair and lightning bolt scar didn't help the matter either. So rather than face the stuck up man he re-entered the busy mall.

He was passing a toy store when he first heard the childish cry. Looking around he saw a little girl of about five or six. The child was looking around hysterically, tears running down her face. Harry, who had a soft spot for kids, walked over to girl.

"Hey little one, are you lost?" He asked, crouching down so that he was her height.

The girl nodded, her tears slowing. Bright blue eyes, red rimmed with tears, looked up to meet emerald.

The little girl was very angelic with her cream-colored skin and beautiful big eyes; golden curls framed her small face.

"My name is Harry? What's yours?" Harry asked the child kindly.

"Cassy," She replied in a small voice.

"What a pretty name Cassy, do you know where your mummy and daddy are?"

The little girl shook her head.

"We were walkin' and I saw this kitty in the 'tore window, I only stopped for a second honest! But then when I turnded around they weren't there and…"

They little girl broke off and started crying once more. Harry sighed before picking up the distraught child, the girl's soft sobs muffled by his shoulder.

"Hush, it's okay, I'll help you find your family. Shhs…it's alright…"

He moved to start walking to the security both which he had passed by earlier when something caught his eye, it was a stuffed kitten in the toy store window. It reminded him of one of Mrs. Figg's cats, Mr. Kibbles or something. He guessed it was the toy Cassy had told him about.

"We're going to find your parents but first there is something I've got to do okay?"

Cassy, who was beginning to calm down, nodded into his shoulder.

Harry walked into the toy store, jumping slightly as a sharp ring announced his entry, and asked the man behind the counter to see the kitten on display.

After quickly purchasing the animal the teen began making his way towards the security both.

As they walked up he could see a girl about his age pacing in front of the desk. As they got closer the girl looked up. Seeing the child in Harry's arm, who by now was much calmer, she started running towards them.

"Cassy! Cassy! Where did you go? Mum and dad are furious! We were so worried…" the girl cried, taking the child from Harry's arms.

She hugged the girl for a while, murmuring incoherent things, before finally she looked up at Harry.

His breath caught; she was beautiful.

Much like her sister curls framed her face, only hers were a soft brown instead of gold. Her skin was slightly paler than the child's and her eyes were a much darker blue. They were kind, but mysterious, like the depths of the sea.

"I'm sorry about my sister," The girl said, "she's always getting into trouble. I just can't keep up with her. I'm Miranda by the way."

"Harry."

Harry shook the offered hand, giving the other teen a brief smile.

"It was no problem at all; I've always wished I had a younger sibling." He assured her before once again crouching down so that he was equal in height with the younger girl.

"See, I told you we would find your family. Now I've got a little present here for you."

Harry handed Cassy the stuffed kitten, laughing when she squealed in delight.

"Thanks you! Oh thanks you thanks you thank you!"

"You're welcome. However, next time you stop to look at something make sure you tell your pretty sister here. You wouldn't want to get lost again."

The little girl nodded enthusiastically before turning her attention back to her present. Harry stood.

"I would give anything to have a younger sister like that."

Miranda laughed,

"Thanks again for bringing her back; half the people around here would just ignore a crying kid. I'll pay you back for the toy, really…"

"It's no problem, don't worry about the money."

Harry glanced at his watch.

"Shoot. Listen, I'm sorry but I've got to go. If I'm not home in half an hour my aunt and uncle will be furious. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Miranda replied. "See you around."

She waved to him until he was swallowed by the crowd.

Harry never noticed the man that had watched the entire exchange from the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

Snape was furious.

He was angry with his daughters, he was annoyed at the worthless muggles, but mostly he was mad at himself.

'How could I be so stupid as to not notice my daughter was not by my side? For Merlin's sake, she had been holding my hand!'

Severus watched as his oldest daughter explained what happened to the funny dressed muggle. Thank Merlin she went to a muggle primary school.

He observed as the man talked into some little box thing, a talkie-walkie or something like that, before walking off.

Muggles had strange ways of trying to find people. If the place hadn't been so crowded Severus would have cast a tracking or a point me spell in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the former created an illuminated path to whatever you where tracking, which certainly would cause quite a few questions. The later would require him to walk around with his wand on his flat palm, which would no doubt seem very suspicious.

His older daughter began to pace in front of the booth. Watching her was making him dizzy, so instead he turned to observe the passing crowd. As he had very little faith in the muggles abilities he was left hoping for a miracle.

'I should have known this trip would end like this. I just had to let the girls talk me into coming to a mall, a muggle mall. We are never doing anything like this again. NO matter how much they beg and plead. No! This was a mistake from when the idea first found its way into Miranda's head. I can't believe I lost my own daughter!'

A while later, Severus was still beating himself up over losing his daughter when a boy walked over carrying Cassy, his Cassy!

He was so relieved that he didn't bother looking at the teen that was carrying the child, his little girl.

His older daughter went running to her sister. She took Cassy into her arms, holding her for the longest time.

He watched as she finally looked up at the boy. They exchanged names, Severus not catching the young man's.

Severus smiled when the boy gave Cassy the stuffed animal, although he wasn't too sure when he started to flirt with Miranda. He couldn't see the boy clearly from his position for he stood facing his daughter while the other youth had his back to him. He could at least make out that the teen was relatively short, only minimally taller then his daughter. The clothes he wore were insufferable, so large that he wondered how they managed to stay on the child's sickeningly scrawny figure. However, it was the boy's messy black hair that had Severus wondering why the boy seemed so memorable.

Finally, the teen looked at his watch and mumbled something before turning to leave.

Severus's blood ran cold as he suddenly realized why he had seemed familiar. He cursed quietly to himself.

'Of course, as if his day hadn't been bloody bad enough, it just had to be bloody Harry Potter.'

Severus, being the composed man he was, walked over to his daughters showing no sign of the contradicting emotions he was feeling. Reprieve, anger, curiosity, worry, worry?

He proceeded then to gather his youngest in his arms, scolding her firmly but kindly.

Then the family began walking towards the exit, having had enough of muggle malls for the day. Severus carried his youngest daughter, who within moments was asleep in his arms. It had after all been a long day for all of them.

As they walked Severus glanced over at his oldest child, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Miranda, I don't want you to even think about that boy. He's just another stranger that we met in passing. You will most likely never meet him again so there is no point in dwelling on him. Besides, he just happened to help us, I'm sure he's usually a troublemaker."

The girl was confused.

"But why Papa?"

He sighed and looked away.

Comprehension dawned on her face.

"He's one of your student's isn't he Papa."

"Papa?! Is he not?" She demanded, unable to be persuaded by his silence.

"Yes!" Snape snapped at his daughter before struggling to continue in a calmer tone.

"Yes. I have the most unfortunate pleasure of teaching the boy. He is a troublemaker and a menace and you're not to get involved with him. Do you understand?

"But Pa…"

"Do not talk back to your father!"

Miranda jumped and then bowed her head in defeat.

"Yes Papa."

Again Severus sighed.

"Child I'm sorry. It's been a long day. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

The last part had been barely a whisper but the teen beside him didn't say a word, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground as she walked.


	3. Chapter 3

After Harry left Cassy with Miranda he hurried into the nearest decent clothing store. There he proceeded to spend the next half hour replacing his entire muggle wardrobe while spending a small fortune.

Unfortunately, this caused him to be late returning home. He was not looking forward to having to explain to his relatives why he wasn't locked in his room like he had been when they left on some business picnic of Vernon's.

Arriving at Private Drive he decided he would whoever was on 'Harry watching' duty to shrink his bags of clothes.

Lucky for him it was Lupin. Remus shrank the bags without asking too many questions before ushering Harry into the house. It was only two days after the full moon and Harry knew the werewolf must be tired.

When Harry entered his 'home' he could hear the sound of fake laughter coming from the television in the living room.

He was relieved; it seemed that maybe his relatives hadn't bothered to check on him at all. Harry snuck up stairs to find his door closed, which was strange seeing as he left it open when he left. However, he did not have long to ponder on this seeing as immediately when he entered the room he was grabbed by a meaty fist and shoved forcefully into the wall. He winced slightly at the pain which shot through his body before looking up into his uncle's purple face.

"BOY! WHERE DID YOU GO?"

"Um…"

Harry decided it was time to see if he was any good as an actor.

"I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I know I shouldn't have disobeyed you, but I had to go to the bathroom, really, really bad! So I reached through the cat flap and unlocked the door. While I was in the bathroom Mrs. Figg came to the door. She needed some help lifting boxes out of her carport. I offered to help, thinking I'd be home in time."

It seemed Harry's uncle was almost as thick as he looked, but not completely. He threw Harry across the room. He landed on his right leg, which made cracking sound. He knew it was probably broken.

Vernon waddled over to where his nephew lay; the man towering over the boy.

"I don't know what sort of freakishness you've been up too, but if I get ONE call from any of the neighbors about you I swear you'll regret it. Understand me? Speak BOY!"

Harry nodded quickly although his speech was slurred slightly due to the pain, "Yes sir."

"Good." His uncle grunted. "You will come down in one hour to fix dinner. I will not have you sitting up here just lounging about."

His uncle then left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Harry made his way over to his small, broken bed. As he sat trying to catch his breath he thought about how good it felt to have clothes that fit, how good it felt to have helped a child find her family, and about how pretty the girl's older sister was. He also realized he needed to do something about his leg, because it was definitely broken. The appendage was a nasty purple color and had already begun to swell.

But as there wasn't much he could do at the moment he thought back to the girl in the mall.

Miranda.

He kept playing their conversation over and over in his head, finding himself yearning to here her voice again. He remembered her smile, how it seemed to light up her face. He recalled her bouncy curls, how he had longed to reach out and touch one. He remembered her eyes, how the seemed to draw you in, like tunnels dark and mysterious.

He wondered why she had seemed so familiar. Well, maybe not so much familiar, but she reminded him of someone. But who?

She also had a magical aura about her yet Harry definitely didn't recall seeing her at Hogwarts. What was that about?

Harry was startled out of his thoughts by his uncles booming voice calling him downstairs.

He winced as he moved his leg, almost collapsing as he put pressure on it. So he went hopping on one foot to the top of the stairs. There he paused to decide which way to get down them was best. Finally, coming to a decision, he sat down on the top step and slid down the stairs. Mind you it was a very bumpy ride, but it was surly not as bumpy as it would have been had he fallen down them. He then slowly made his way to the kitchen.

His relatives promptly ignored him as he entered the room. His uncle was rambling on about drills, yelling, bagels, some muggle he fired, and other pointless stuff that Harry cared absolutely nothing about. So he began making diner.

At some point Vernon suddenly turned to Harry, looking very smug.

Harry visibly gulped.

"BOY! I've decided you have been lazy enough this summer. It's time you earn you keep so I've gotten you a job. You'll start tomorrow morning at a local bookstore. The manager has kindly offered you a ride; you are to be ready by 6:30 sharp. AND YOU BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELF!"

Harry jumped at the yelling and felt his jaw drop.

This was going to be a long summer.

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**NOTE: **As I was rewriting this chapter I took the liberty of changing the injury to his foot to an injury to his leg. It just makes more sense to me and I know that in the first post of this story I had some issues with flipping between an injury to his foot and his knee. It caused some confusion and so I'm just changing it completely. If you notice any reference to an injury in Harry's knee or foot any farther along in this story it is because I haven't yet revised that chapter. Sorry for any confusion this causes!


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Harry woke up about five and then attempted to get dressed with only one good foot. It took several tries and resulted in several more bruises but he finally managed to pull on his most comfortable pair of sweat pants, not that he would necessarily describe the overlarge pools of fabric as comfortable. They were a pair of Dudley's old pants and not exactly good work attire but seeing as he couldn't unshrink his new clothes himself he wasn't left with much choice.

Next, after realizing what day it was, he quickly penned a letter to the Order.

_Dear Order,_

_I am fine._

_Harry_

It wasn't exactly accurate, but he wasn't exactly about to tell them the truth for it would surly just cause an unnecessary panic.

His relatives hadn't heeded the orders warning at the beginning of the summer, not that he had expected them to. If anything the warning had made things worse. He didn't blame them for trying though.

He sent the letter off with Hedwig before working on splinting his leg with a stick and some medical tape he had stolen from the first aid kit the night before. The splint caused him to limp but at least he could put some pressure onto his foot.

Finally, stuffing his invisibility cloak in to his pocket, he made his way downstairs.

He took a banana from the kitchen before glancing at the clock. It was 6:15 and he had fifteen minutes to get to the entrance to Private Drive. His uncle, not wanting the neighbors to see him, had told his manager to pick him up there.

Throwing his father's old cloak over himself, Harry snuck out the back door thus avoiding his guard.

He made his way slowly to the end of the street before pulling off his clock and pocketing it once again.

Then he sat on the curve and waited.

Severus awoke in a great mood, or at least in as great a mood as was possible for Snape.

He got dressed for work quickly before going down to his kitchen to put on some water for the coffee.

Contrary to popular belief Severous did not waste his summers hiding in a dark cave like a bat. In fact he spent his vacation running the small bookstore which both he and his wife owned. Few people knew that even though he has a vast amount of skill in potions, books are his real passion. He was proud of his store, which had a reputation of being one of the best, outside of Flourish and Blotts of course. It was both magic and muggle, not that the muggles ever noticed. At first he had stuck only to magical books, however, the more muggles books he read the more fascinated he became with the extent of their imaginations. The things they come up with are far more entertaining than any magical writer could dream of. Thus he had opened up a muggle wing in the store, simply casting a notice-me-not charm on the magical section. If anything the muggles certainly brought in a good portion of his business.

During the year his wife and girls took care of the store while he taught at Hogwarts. Both his daughters were home schooled by their mother, who was a former charms professor at an American school of magic.

The kettle began to whistle so Severus took it off the heat and prepared his usual cup of coffee.

He then quietly swept up the stairs and gently woke up his older daughter, who often helped him in the store during the summer when she wasn't out with her friends.

"Good morning Miranda."

As Miranda slowly got out of bed, Severus made his way downstairs to wait for her. Ten minutes later she came down, looking clean and fresh as ever.

He smiled at his daughter, if only the kids he taught were like her.

'If only you would give them a chance,' said a nasty little voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like Minerva.

Miranda smiled up at her father.

"Can I drive?"

Severus scowled. His oldest daughter had turned sixteen nearly three months ago and yet he still refused to allow her to get her license. She had her learners and he knew that her mother had been teaching her, but Severus still refused to allow her to drive alone. He had no intention of allowing his daughter to drive around the careless idiots that often graced the roads around their suburban home.

"Absolutely Not."

Miranda sighed as she climbed into the passenger seat. She knew her father was just worried but she was still angry with him. He had no real logical answer for stopping her from driving. Still, she knew enough not to argue with him. He was a great father and a kind man but no one dared argue with him. He is a stubborn man when it comes to his rules, and she knew better than to question his judgment.

The car ride was silent as the silent argument momentarily alienated both father and daughter. However the trip was short and it wasn't long after that they pulled into the parking lot of a small bookstore called 'The Serpent's Tale'.

Severus actually smiled, a genuine smile, at the sight of it. This was the place he loved most.

As Severus unlocked the front door he recalled that his new employee started work today. He was curious as to who it was going to be for the obese muggle who had come in to apply had been oddly evasive. Severus had not wanted to hire someone who hadn't bothered to come to his own interview, but the guy did come highly recommended from one of his best employees. He would just have to wait and see how the day went.

Harry waited a while, until finally he spotted a car coming down the road towards him. The car stopped abruptly about ten feet away from him and a tall man got out.

The man was almost a head taller then Harry, with sandy blond hair and chocolate brown eyes.

Harry scrambled to his feet.

"Hello." The man greeted him in a smooth low voice.

Harry nodded in greeting.

"My name is Shaun Heartily. I'm in charge of the new employee's at the store. I presume your Harry."

He nodded and shook the offered hand.

The man frowned at him.

"You look awfully small, how old are you son?"

"Fifteen, sixteen at the end of July."

The man continued to frown, giving him a glance over. Harry was uncomfortable, not being used to this kind of attention.

"I guess, but you sure don't look it. Well come along. Guess we better get a move on. Those books won't reshelf themselves now will they."

Shaun laughed at his own joke.

Harry smirked.

'If only he knew.'

The car was quite for the first half of the drive. Harry was lost in thought, watching the trees pass by and Shaun was quietly humming along to whatever song it was they where playing on the radio.

By this point Harry's leg was throbbing pretty badly, and on a hunch he decided to try something.

"Um…Shaun?"

"Yes?"

"Do have any pain medication or something; I've got a killer headache."

The man nodded and began searching through a compartment in the front of the car while keeping one eye on the road.

"Ah! There you go kiddo."

He handed Harry some kind of pill, he recognized it from when he was younger as one of the ones his aunt used to give Dudley one whenever he got sick. He took it gratefully.

"Thanks."

"Mmhm."

With that the companionable silence once again descended between the two and Harry once more turned to stare out the window. Gradually the pain in his leg began to fade to a more manageable level.

Finally they reached their destination and Harry got out of the car to look around.

He was standing in front of a quaint little bookstore. It was one story and made of a dark, reddish brick. However, what caught his attention was that the snake on the sign looked suspiciously like the one on the Slytherin crest, and oddly enough the building seemed to radiate magic.

'A Serpents Tale'

He read the sign, coincidence? He didn't think so. It definitely seemed this was not just a muggle bookstore.

Shaun yelled at him to follow. So Harry followed him as well as he could with his foot. He was once again grateful for the painkiller.

As they entered the store a quiet bell rang above the door.

Harry glanced at the bookshelf-lined walls, which were green with silver designs here and there. The floor was made of a dark wood and the front desk had a small carving of same snake he had seen outside. This place was definitely Slytherin owned.

Harry was so preoccupied with his surroundings he didn't notice that he had begun to wander down one of the isles of books, nor did he notice that he was not the only one on the isle until it was too late. He crashed into them, sending them both to the ground and littering the floor with books.

"Sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't see you, I'm so sorry, really I'm sorry…" Harry started to help the other person collect the books.

"It's fine, really…Harry?"

Harry looked up, noticing for the first time who he had bumped into.

"Miranda? "

"Harry? Oh Harry! What are you doing here?"

"Um…I'm working here now, my relatives…"

"You're what! This is so cool! I can't believe it. This is…" She continued to ramble.

"Miranda. MIRANDA!"

His yelling brought her to her senses.

"Sorry but it's just so cool, you see my father owns this store. I help him out a lot. Come on you have to meet him!"

The teen was so excited about Harry that she had forgotten that her father did not want her to even speak to the boy. She grabbed him by the arm and took off to the back of the store, not realizing she had grabbed where his Uncle had the night before and was hurting him even with her light touch. They left a floor full of books and a very stunned Shaun in their wake.

She dragged him in and out of books and people until finally she reached her destination. She had stopped in front of a thick office door.

"Papa! Papa! You have to see who your new employee is! Its so exciting Papa. Pa…"

The door being opened interrupted her. Her father stuck his head out.

"Miranda, what in Merlin's…"

The words died on his lips as he saw who was standing next to her…

"Potter!"

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**NOTE: **I have finally decided to continue WK but before doing that it is in dire need of revising. Because of this I have taken down all of the chapters that I have not edited yet. The four that are posted now have been reworded and edited for grammar mistakes only. The basic plot is still the same I have just added a few details and such. I will be out of town this week and therefore unable to get to a computer until next weekend so I wont be able to repost any more chapters until then. I hope to finish editing soon that I can finally post a new chapter for everyone that has been waiting. I'm sorry if their was any confusion because of the deletion of chapters.


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